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ShutterTales: 3 Minutes of Utopia

PublishedApril 2nd, 2012

December 2010, I travelled back to my hometown in Philippines to celebrate Christmas with friends and families after several years of being away. Philippines is a diverse place for photography where one can have multitudinous subjects especially in a festive season like Christmas. I bagged my camera wherever I went in anticipation of finding more interesting subjects along the way to regardless of where. I have taken more than a thousand photos from day 1 to the last day of our holiday.

Christmas eve was a very joyous gathering with families at home. The table was filled with all sorts of food. One was singing the Christmas carols while the little ones were busy opening their gifts. However, I was more excited on what was about to unfold that night. We were going out to feed the homeless, the hungry and the needy. As the crew of friends and cousins were loading the packed food and medicines in bag, I was looking around. So many food wasted and chucked straight to the bin, bottles of drinks half-consumed, a plateful of desserts untouched and abandoned in one corner by little gluttons and a fridge filled boxes of cakes and pastries.

When we reached our first stop in downtown Cebu, we woke everyone with our own little bundles of joy. As we reached their hands with food, vitamins, medicines and packs of fruit drinks I can see the excessive jubilation in their eyes. One declared it was her first full meal in the last 2 days. While everyone were enjoying the feast of delicious delights at their respective homes, these people were struggling to make a spoonful of food to their mouths.

While taking the photos to document this unique Christmas eve of mine, I only realised that very moment that I had so much and a million reason to thank the Man upstairs about. These people have nothing but the air they breathe! Could even hardly have a cup of water to quench their thirst. The ultimate goal they have in life is to survive the day and face another tomorrow. They don't think or dream of the future anymore.

This is one of my best personal photography assignment so far. I captured not just moments but life in the real world.

Urban Gypsy

This man is homeless, badly broke and nowhere to go. I can still remember his face when I celebrated Christmas eve in the streets handing out food to the needy and the homeless. After a week, I passed the area and he's still there waiting for a life-changing miracle to happen upon him. Across where he was sitting was a big church where he probably entrusted his fate to the angels in high heavens. While the filthy leeches in the government enjoying a hefty meal from their loots, this poor guy's tummy's crumbling in starvation.

Casualty Of Debauchery

My recent visit to the Philippines gave me an opportunity to take on different and unique subjects. My lens witnessed a lot of things in this once beautiful country before economic depression became evident all over the place. Corruption in the government becomes a socially-accepted way of life. The system is badly-deformed by the rampant corruption from top to the lowest rank in government office. The subject here is just one of the casualties of political sinfulness.